The Feast of All Souls originated at the great monastery of Cluny in 998. The commemoration spread and became an occasion to pray for those in Purgatory. During the Reformation Era Protestants and Anglicans dropped the feast on theological grounds. In the late twentieth century, however, the feast–usually renamed the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed–began appearing on Anglican calendars. The difference between All Saints’ Day and All Faithful Departed, in this context, had become one of emphasis–distinguished saints on November 1 and forgotten saints on November 2.

The idea of Purgatory (a Medieval Roman Catholic doctrine with ancient roots) is that of, as I heard a Catholic catechist, “God’s mud room.” The doctrine holds that all those in Purgatory will go to Heaven, just not yet, for they require purification. I am sufficiently Protestant to reject the doctrine of Purgatory, for I believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus constitutes “God’s mud room.” Purgatory is also alien to Eastern Orthodoxy, which also encourages prayers for the dead.

I pray for the dead, too. After all, who knows what takes place between God and the departed?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS

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Merciful Father, hear our prayers and console us.

As we renew our faith in your Son, whom you raised from the dead,

strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters will share in his resurrection,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 or Isaiah 25:6-9

Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-9, 13-14 or Psalm 103:8, 10, 13-18

Romans 6:3-9 or 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Matthew 25:31-46 or John 11:17-27

—The Vatican II Sunday Missal (1974), 1041-1048

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O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers:

Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son;

that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children;

The Law of Moses receives positive treatment in 2 Chronicles 29 and 30. Keeping it is an outward sign of devotion to God in the narrative from the reign of King Hezekiah. After all, the theology of the Babylonian Exile is that it resulted from widespread and persistent disregard for the Law of Moses, especially those regarding idolatry and social injustice, especially economic exploitation and judicial corruption.

What are we to make, then, of St. Paul the Apostle’s attitude toward the Law of Moses? The immediate context of Galatians 3 was the question of the relationship between faith and works with regard to justification with God. St. Paul argued that justification with God occurs via faith alone, faith being inherently active; faith and works were, in the Apostle’s mind, a package deal. He cited the example of Abraham, whose faith God reckoned as righteousness. The author of the Letter of James cited that example also, but to argue that

a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

–James 3:24, Revised Standard Version–Second Edition (1971)

For the author of James faith was intellectual and not inherently active, so the pairing of faith and works was crucial. The men agreed that active faith was essential.

Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He engaged in disputes with religious officials whose legalism amplified certain aspects of the Law of Moses while ignoring the mandate to practice mercy, also part of the law. Our Lord and Savior argued that certain religious leaders taught the Law of Moses wrongly, not that the law was invalid. The law, ideally, was something that would become part of one, that one would keep it in principle, bearing in mind that some parts of it were culturally specific examples, and not becoming bogged down in them. It was something one was supposed to keep as a matter of reverence and gratitude, not legalism. Perhaps St. Paul was objecting more to legalism than to the Law of Moses itself. He was, after all, engaged in a dispute with Judaizers, who insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity (then a Jewish sect) became Jews first. The context of argument contributed to taking an opposite position, not seeking a moderate position.

Jesus agreed with Rabbi Hillel, who summarized the Torah as loving God with all of one’s being. Hillel continued,

The rest is commentary. Go and learn it.

Much of that commentary consists of instructions (many of them culturally specific) about how to care for the vulnerable people in our midst. May we Gentiles follow the lead of our Jewish brethren and ask ourselves how to apply those laws in our contexts. Then may we live according to the divine mandate to love God fully and each other as we love ourselves. May we do this out of reverence and gratitude, as an expression of faith.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 4, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PAUL CUFFEE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY TO THE SHINNECOCK NATION

THE FEAST OF SAINT CASIMIR OF POLAND, PRINCE

THE FEAST OF EMANUEL CRONENWETT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARINUS OF CAESAREA, ROMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN MARTYR, AND ASTERIUS, ROMAN SENATOR AND CHRISTIAN MARTYR

Above: Captain David Shepherd and King Silas Benjamin of Gilboa, from Kings (2009)

A Screen Capture via PowerDVD

Judgment, Mercy, and God

JUNE 11 and 12, 2018

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The Collect:

All-powerful God, in Jesus Christ you turned death into life and defeat into victory.

Increase our faith and trust in him,

that we may triumph over all evil in the strength

of the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Samuel 16:14-23 (Monday)

1 Kings 18:17-40 (Tuesday)

Psalm 74 (Both Days)

Revelation 20:1-6 (Monday)

Revelation 20:7-15 (Tuesday)

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Till when, O God, will the foe blaspheme,

will the enemy forever revile Your name?

Why do you hold back Your hand, Your right hand?

Draw it out of Your bosom!

–Psalm 74:10-11, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.

–Revelation 20:12b, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

–James 2:24, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

–Romans 5:1-2, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with you,

so that you may be revered.

–Psalm 130:3-4, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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Where does judgment end and mercy begin with God? I do not know, for (A) the mind of God is above me, and (B) the scriptural witnesses contradict each other. How could they not do so, given the human authorship of the Bible and the range of human perspectives on the topic of divine judgment and mercy. I am not a universalist, so I affirm that our works have some influence on the afterlife, but I also rejoice in divine forgiveness. And, as for works, both James and St. Paul the Apostle affirmed the importance of works while defining faith differently. Faith was inherently active for Paul yet purely intellectual for James.

What we do matters in this life and the next. Our deeds (except for accidents) flow from our attitudes, so our thoughts matter. If we love, we will act lovingly, for example. Our attitudes and deeds alone are inadequate to deliver us from sin, but they are material with which God can work, like a few loaves and fishes. What do we bring to God, therefore? Do we bring the violence of Elijah, who ordered the slaughter of the priests of Baal? Or do we bring the desire that those who oppose God have the opportunity to repent? Do we bring the inclination to commit violence in the name of God? Or do we bring the willingness to leave judgment to God? And do we turn our back on God or do we seek God?

May we seek God, live the best way we can, by grace, and rely upon divine grace. May we become the best people we can be in God and let God be God, which God will be anyway.

Above: Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Image in the Public Domain

Being Good Soil

JUNE 9, 2018

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The Collect:

All-powerful God, in Jesus Christ you turned death into life and defeat into victory.

Increase our faith and trust in him,

that we may triumph over all evil in the strength

of the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39

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The Assigned Readings:

Genesis 2:4b-14

Psalm 130

Luke 8:4-15

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O Israel, wait for the LORD,

for with the LORD there is mercy;

there is plenteous redemption with the LORD,

who shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

–Psalm 130:7-8, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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If one focuses on the sower in the Parable of the Sower, one misses the point. Yes, God is a better gardener in Genesis 2:4b-14 than a sower in Luke 8:4-5, but broadcast sowing, which the parable describes, was commonplace, therefore useful for our Lord and Savior’s parable. After all, parables did use details from daily life. And, as Bishop N. T. Wright wrote,

…what Jesus was doing was not commenting on farming problems but explaining the strange way in which the kingdom of God was arriving.

—Luke for Everyone (2004), page 93

The emphasis on the parable is on the soils, not the sower. Donald G. Miller, author of the volume on Luke (1959) in The Layman’s Bible Commentary, was correct to refer to the story as the Parable of the Four Soils. The parable challenges us to ask ourselves what kind of soil we are, not to question the agricultural method the story mentions.

Yes, I know that the explanation of the parable (verses 11-15) postdates the material preceding and succeeding it and represents a subsequent level of interpretation, but it is a useful level of interpretation. It tells us that we, to pursue deep spiritual lives in Christ, must not only welcome him but have an excellent attention span for him in a range of circumstances.

All-powerful God, in Jesus Christ you turned death into life and defeat into victory.

Increase our faith and trust in him,

that we may triumph over all evil in the strength

of the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39

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The Assigned Readings:

Isaiah 28:9-13 (Thursday)

Deuteronomy 1:34-40 (Friday)

Psalm 130 (Both Days)

1 Peter 4:7-19 (Thursday)

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 (Friday)

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Out of the depths have I called to you, O LORD

LORD, hear my voice;

let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

If you, LORD, were to note what is done amiss,

O Lord, who could stand?

–Psalm 130:1-2, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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Who indeed?

We read of judgment, mercy, and affliction in the pericopes for these two days. Faithfulness to God, especially when the depiction of God is that of one with a short fuse, is especially dangerous. And even when texts depict God as having more patience, persistent faithlessness remains perilous. The readings from the New Testament add the element of enduring suffering for the sake of righteousness faithfully. Trust in God and rejoice, they advise.

I recognize that judgment and mercy exist in God. Sometimes the former precedes the latter, but, on other occasions, mercy for some entails judgment on others. I prefer a utopia in which all is peace, love, mutuality, faithfulness to God, and other virtues, but that is not this world. If, for example, the oppressors refuse to refrain from oppressing, is not the deliverance of the oppressed sometimes the doom of the oppressors? We human beings make our decisions and must live with the consequences of them. Nevertheless, I choose to emphasize the mercy of God, but not to the exclusion of judgment. (I am not a universalist.) The depiction of God in much of the Torah disturbs me, for the divine temper seems too quick. I prefer the God of Psalm 130.

Nevertheless, enduring suffering for the sake of righteousness patiently and with rejoicing is something I have not mastered. I am glad that my circumstances have not led to such suffering. Yet I have endured some suffering with great impatience, finding God to be present with me during the ideal. I have rejoiced in the spiritual growth I have experienced in real time and after the fact, with the benefit of hindsight. Divine mercy has been especially evident in difficult circumstances.

I conclude that trusting God to fulfill divine promises is wise, for God is faithful. None of my doubts have led to divine retribution, fortunately. God has never failed me, but I have failed God often. Reducing the number of instances of failure is among the spiritual goals I am pursuing via grace.

Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves so that you can experience the genuine love of brothers, love each other intensely from the heart….

–1 Peter 1:22, The New Jerusalem Bible

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Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and make good your vows to the Most High.

–Psalm 50:14, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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This day’s readings speak of the imperative of positive human responses to divine actions. ”God will end the Babylonian Exile; get ready.” That is the essence of Isaiah 2. Gratitude is in order of course. But gratitude consists of more than saying, “Thank you!” or sending a note or card. It is really a matter of attitude, which informs how we live. 1 Peter 1:22, set in the context of Christ’s sacrifice for us, tells us, in the lovely words of The New Jerusalem Bible, to

love each other intensely from the heart.

I like to listen to radio podcasts. Recently I listened to an interview with Karen Armstrong on the topic of the Golden Rule. She said that many of us prefer to be proved right than to live compassionately. This statement rings true with me. How often have I wanted to win an argument more than to live as a merely decent human being? Too many times! One instance is one time too many.

May we–you, O reader, and I–look around. Whomever we see, may we love those individuals intensely from the heart. That is what Jesus did.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 29:1-19 (November 14)

Jeremiah 30:1-24 (November 15)

Jeremiah 31:1-17, 23-24 (November 16)

Psalm 36 (Morning–November 14)

Psalm 130 (Morning–November 15)

Psalm 56 (Morning–November 16)

Psalms 80 and 27 (Evening–November 14)

Psalms 32 and 139 (Evening–November 15)

Psalms 100 and 62 (Evening–November 16)

Matthew 26:36-56 (November 14)

Matthew 26:36-56 (November 15)

Matthew 27:1-10 (November 16)

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The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom then shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life;

of whom then shall I be afraid?

–Psalm 27, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)

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The Prophet Jeremiah relayed advice from God to those exiled from the Kingdom of Judah to Chaldea in 597 BCE: Get on with life. The wicked will perish, a faithful remnant will see divine deliverance, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem will occur. None of the members of the original audience lived to see that day, but it did come to pass.

Jeremiah prophesied during dark days which preceded even darker ones. “Dark days which preceded even darker ones” summarized the setting of the Matthew readings accurately. But, after the darker days came and went wondrously and blessedly brighter ones arrived.

I know firsthand of the sting of perfidy and of the negative consequences of actions of well-intentioned yet mistaken people. Sometimes anger is essential to surviving in the short term. Yet anger poisons one’s soul after remaining too long. Slipping into vengeful thoughts feels natural.

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy the one who repays you

for all you have done to us;

Who takes your little ones,

and dashes them against the rock.

–Psalm 137:8-9, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)

Yet such an attitude obstructs the path one must trod when getting on with life and remaining faithful to God therein. Leaving one’s enemies and adversaries to God for mercy or judgment (as God decides) and getting on with the daily business of living is a great step of faithfulness.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 4, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS CARACCIOLO, COFOUNDER OF THE MINOR CLERKS REGULAR